Int. 656 would establish the South Shore BID on Staten Island in Council Member Ignizio’s district. This BID would consist of three, small, non-contiguous commercial strips located in the towns of Great Kills, Eltingville and Annadale. This is an interesting BID because it would be the City’s first BID consisting of three separate commercial strips under the umbrella of one BID. The BID would be comprised of 217 parcels of land containing 275 businesses, most of which are independently-owned and some of which are regional and national chain stores. The majority of the BID is commercial, but there are also public facilities, transportation and utilities, vacant land, and 82 residential units.
The BID would have a relatively small budget of $185,000 in its first year, with the average assessment being approximately $1,002 per year and the maximum projected assessment being $5,090 per year.

Int. 656 would establish the South Shore BID on Staten Island in Council Member Ignizio’s district. This BID would consist of three, small, non-contiguous commercial strips located in the towns of Great Kills, Eltingville and Annadale. This is an interesting BID because it would be the City’s first BID consisting of three separate commercial strips under the umbrella of one BID. The BID would be comprised of 217 parcels of land containing 275 businesses, most of which are independently-owned and some of which are regional and national chain stores. The majority of the BID is commercial, but there are also public facilities, transportation and utilities, vacant land, and 82 residential units.
The BID would have a relatively small budget of $185,000 in its first year, with the average assessment being approximately $1,002 per year and the maximum projected assessment being $5,090 per year.

Development of protocols for inspector interactions with non-English speakers during agency inspections.

Introduction

This bill would require that the business owner’s bill of rights, which advises business owners of their rights as they relate to agency inspections, include translations in at least the top six languages spoken by limited-English proficient individuals as those languages are determined by the Department of City Planning based on United States census data.
The bill would also require that the standardized customer service training curriculum developed by the Mayor’s Office of Operations for training agency inspectors include specific protocols for inspectors to follow when interacting with non-English speakers to ensure that such inspectors provide language translation services during inspections.

Creating, within the dept of small business services, small business advocates dedicated to helping business owners obtain appropriate services from the dept and other city, state and federal agencies.

Introduction

This bill would establish that there be small business advocates within the Department of Small Business Services dedicated to helping business owners obtain appropriate services from the Department and other government agencies. The bill would require that the contact information for such advocate be prominently displayed on the websites of the Department of Buildings, the Department of Consumer Affairs, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the Department of Environmental Protection, the Department of Sanitation, the Bureau of Fire Prevention of the Fire Department, and the Department of Small Business Services. It would also require the Department to report on the number of requests received, the type of requests, and the assistance provided in response to each request.

Incorporating feedback from businesses into agency inspector customer service training.

Introduction

This bill would update existing requirements for customer service training given to inspectors at agencies that interact regularly with small businesses. Specifically, it would require that this customer service training be reviewed annually, and updated as necessary, based on customer service survey feedback received through the City’s website. This survey is currently operational, and its continued operation would be required by this bill. Inspected businesses are directed to this customer service survey when they are handed a “Business Owners Bill of Rights,” which is required to be distributed during inspections. The bill would further require that, if fewer than 500 survey responses are received during designated two-year periods, the Office of Operations would be required to conduct outreach until that number is met for up to three months.

Requiring the dept of consumer affairs to hold multiple business education events each year throughout the five boroughs.

Introduction

This bill would require DCA and SBS to organize and conduct business education days in at least two separate locations in each borough every year. These events would provide local businesses with information regarding the laws, rules, regulations that are enforced by DCA, including but not limited to:
• Consumer protection laws
• Truth in pricing laws
• Licensing regimes
The first of these events would be held on or before June 30, 2015.
Any lectures or materials produced for the events would be available on DCA’s website and provided in English and in the six most common languages spoken by limited English proficient individuals in the city.
The bill would also require DCA to submit an annual report to the Council detailing: (i) the number of business education days held, (ii) the location of each event, (iii) the number of participants in each event; and (iv) the information provided at each event.

This bill would require the New York City Police Department to publish its patrol guide online, excluding portions that would reveal non-routine investigative techniques or confidential information or that would compromise the safety of the public or police officers. In addition, the bill would repeal a section of the administrative code related to the department’s submission of the NYPD patrol guide to the council.

Requiring an annual analysis of, and recommendations based on, violations dismissed by the dept of consumer affairs’ tribunal.

Introduction

This bill would require the Department of Consumer Affairs to issue an annual report analyzing the violations dismissed by its tribunal. The report would be required to include an analysis of trends and the characteristics of violations dismissed and reasons for dismissal and a comparison to previous reports issued pursuant to this law. Finally, it would be required to include planned actions that the Department will take to minimize the issuance of violations that are ultimately dismissed.

This bill would require Borough Presidents to provide, subject to appropriation through the City budget, the services of urban planning professionals to community boards within their borough. At least one urban planning professional would need to be available to provide this service for each community board in the borough, subject to appropriation.

Workforce1 is a service provided by the Department of Small Business Services that prepares and connects qualified candidates to job opportunities in New York City.
This bill would require the Department of Small Business Services to publish on its Workforce1 website information intended to assist parents who are reentering the workforce. The information would concern attempting to obtain employment and would include, but not be limited to, any online tools, resources, or links to help connect these parents with employment opportunities. The information would also be made available to parents who visit any of the Department’s Workforce1 career centers.

Expand the NYPD's reporting requirements to include the number of arrests that were voided by the police, or were declined to be prosecuted by the local prosecutor.

Introduction

Section §14-150 of New York’s Administrative Code, requires the New York City Police Department to provide to the Council various statistical criteria relating to the operation of the NYPD. Paragraph (4) in particular, requests the total number of arrests, crime complaints, arrests, summons activity, domestic violence radio runs and felony complaints for properties under the jurisdiction of the department of parks and recreation. Each of these requests requires a further breakdown in areas such as level of crime, precinct where crime occurred, transit district and other useful categories that assist in providing the council with a more detailed understanding of the requested information. This amendment would require the NYPD to report on the number of voided arrests as well as the number of arrest which were declined by the local prosecutor providing a broader picture of NYPD statistics.

The bill would amend the city charter by allowing the Mayor to establish an office of civil justice. The office of civil justice would be responsible for overseeing all aspects of civil justice programs. The office would advise and assist the mayor in each area as it relates to civil justice, including, but not limited to, the planning and implementation of civil justice programs, coordination of agencies that implement these programs, reviewing and advising the mayor on the budgetary costs associated with civil programs as well as developing, studying and making recommendations in all civil justice matters that affect New York City.

Creation of a task force to study the effect of shadows cast by large buildings over parkland.

Introduction

This bill would require the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) to establish a task force to study the effect of shadows cast on public parks by buildings constructed in the vicinity of such parks. The task force would study the effect of these shadows and issue a report on steps the City can take to mitigate negative consequences.

This bill would bar individuals from performing work on gas piping systems after January 1, 2020 unless such individuals are (1) licensed master plumbers, (2) hold a gas qualification or (3) hold a limited gas qualification and perform work under the personal and immediate supervision of a gas qualification holder.

The bill would require livery, black car, and luxury limousine bases to collect and electronically submit trip records to the Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC). Such records would be required to include: 1) the date, time, and location of the pick-up and drop-off; 2) the driver’s TLC license number; 3) the dispatched vehicle’s TLC license number; 4) the TLC license number of the base that dispatched the vehicle; 5) the TLC license number of the for-hire affiliated to the dispatched vehicle; 6) the fare collected; and 7) whether the trip was in response to a request for a wheelchair accessible vehicle. Bases that fail to adhere to trip record requirements would be subject to civil penalties of $200 to $1,000 per record not collected and transmitted. The TLC would also be required to post on its website and submit to the Council summaries of such trip records biannually, beginning December 1, 2015.

This bill would require the owners of multiple dwellings (Group R-2 occupancy) to post notice in a common area, or in additional areas as required by the Fire Commissioner, stating the hurricane evacuation zone number for that building and providing the addresses of the three nearest evacuation centers. The form of the notice would be determined by the Commissioner.

This bill would require that the Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) provide reasonable advance notification of its intention to include works of art in a Percent for Art project on the Department’s website. The bill would also require that DCLA hold at least one public hearing on such works of art prior to inclusion. The bill would further require that notice of the hearing be published in the City Record at least fourteen days before the hearing will take place.